Summary Information
James Blair Murdoch Photographs
1920-1965
UWM Manuscript Collection 131
- 7.4 cubic ft. (14 boxes)
- 146 nitrate negatives
- 2,709 digital files (137 GB)
UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)
Collection consists of approximately 2,600 images (both
negatives and prints), most of them taken by Milwaukee, Wisconsin commercial photographer
James Blair Murdoch. Some images, particularly the Standard Oil Company images, were
identified as "their negs" and may not have been taken by Murdoch.
Many of the
images in the collection are related to area businesses, such as advertising and insurance
agencies, department stores, manufacturing industries, and service stations. Particularly
numerous are photographs pertaining to Boston Store, Holland Furnace Company, Standard Oil
Company, Wadhams Oil Company, and the Wisconsin Telephone Company. Images in the collection
document business presentations, offices and employees, building exteriors, store interiors
and sale-day crowds, fashion modeling and style shows, parties, gas stations, manufacturing
and the production process, including many of women at work.
The collection also
contains images relating to Marquette University, Milwaukee-Downer College, Mount Mary
College, and Spencerian Business College, as well as photographs from several local grade
schools. Photographs document school activities, sports, student groups, and
graduation.
Photographs relating to the Milwaukee Athletic Club, Boy Scouts, and
some family-related images, including weddings, residences, and pets, are also found in the
collection.
English
http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-mil-uwmmss0131 ↑ Bookmark this ↑
Biography/History
James Blair Murdoch was born in St. Paul, Minnesota in January 20, 1896. He came to
Milwaukee in the early 1920s and worked as a newspaper photographer. Several years later he
opened a commercial photo studio on Broadway Street in downtown Milwaukee. In 1960, Murdoch
retired and transferred ownership of the business to David Thielke, an employee. Thielke
continued to operate the business as Murdoch Photographing Co. until 1992. Murdoch died on
January 25, 1971 at the age of 75.
Arrangement of the Materials
The images are arranged according to Murdoch's original serial numbers. Images that did not
have a number were given an assigned serial number beginning with the letter A. For example,
A0001 is the first image in the collection with a number assigned by Archives staff.
Negatives are located in boxes 1-8 and 11-14; boxes 1-4 contain glass negatives, and boxes
5-8 and 11-14 contain safety film negatives. Prints are located in boxes 9-10.
Preferred Citation
Citation Guide for Primary Sources
Alternate Format
The James Blair Murdoch Photographs digital collection
includes all negatives and prints not matched to negatives. Due to copyright, it is
accessible only within the UWM Libraries.
Deaccession Information
In February and December of 2011, some safety acetate negatives were deaccessioned due to
advanced deterioriation. Digital scans of these negatives are available on the network drive
for access.
Administrative/Restriction Information
Nitrate negatives are located in cold storage and must be acclimated before delivery to
the reading room. Handling of the glass negatives requires the assistance of an archivist.
There are no other access restrictions on the materials, and the collection is open to all
members of the public in accordance with state law.
The researcher assumes full responsibility for conforming with the laws of libel,
privacy, and copyright which may be involved in the use of this collection (Wisconsin
Statutes 19.21-19.39).
The Murdoch photographs at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee comprise only a portion
of the Murdoch Photographing Co. archives, the rest of which remain in the possession of
David Thielke, owner of the business from 1960 to 1992. At an unknown date, Thielke made a
gift of several thousand photographs to Stephen D. Coppinger as research material. During
his lifetime, Coppinger distributed some of the photographs to others. Following his
death, his wife gave the remaining photographs to Hugh Swofford to donate to the
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries.
Hugh Swofford donated the collection to the Archives in February 1998 (accession
1997-059) in memory of Stephen D. Coppinger. A second donation (accession 1999-020) was
apparently made between July 1999 and June 2000.
Mark A. Vargas processed the 1997-059 accession at the Archives in July 1998. Christel
Maass processed accession 1999-020 and created a database for the collection from January
to April 2001. Prints for selected images were made and added to the collection through
February 2003.
In March 2011, Michael Doylen removed 146 nitrate negatives from the collection and
placed them with other nitrate negatives.
As of December 22, 2022, all electronic files were accessible on an Intel Core i7-10700
CPU (2.90 GHz, 16.00 GB RAM) running Windows 10 Education Version 21H2. Software used to
access the files includes Windows Picture and Fax Viewer.
The collection includes records in the following file formats:
- Tagged Image File Format [.tif]
Contents List
|
Negatives
Glass negatives
|
|
|
Box
1-4
|
Physical
: Request the assistance of an archivist to view the glass negatives.
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/Glass_Negatives/
|
Digital
427 digital files (24 GB)
|
|
|
Negatives
8" x 10" safety film negatives
|
|
|
Box
5
|
Physical
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/8x10_Safety/
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Digital
32 digital files (1.60 GB)
|
|
|
Negatives
4" x 5" safety film negatives
|
|
|
Box
6-8, 11-14
|
Physical
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/4x5_Safety/
|
Digital
2,038 digital files (103 GB)
|
|
|
Prints
Photographic prints
|
|
|
Box
9-10
|
Physical
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/Prints/
|
Digital
8 digital files (47.9 MB)
|
|
|
Negatives
4" x 5" nitrate negatives
|
|
|
4 x 5 Nitrate Box
5
|
Physical
: Nitrate negatives are located in cold storage and must be acclimated before delivery
to the reading room.
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/4x5_Nitrate/
|
Digital
28 digital files (1.54 GB)
|
|
|
Negatives
5" x 7" nitrate negatives
|
|
|
5 x 7 Nitrate Box
2
|
Physical
: Nitrate negatives are located in cold storage and must be acclimated before delivery
to the reading room.
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/5x7_Nitrate/
|
Digital
4 digital files (158 MB)
|
|
|
Negatives
8" x 10" nitrate negatives
|
|
|
8 x 10 Nitrate Box
1
|
Physical
: Nitrate negatives are located in cold storage and must be acclimated before delivery
to the reading room.
|
|
|
Electronic Folder
/8x10_Nitrate/
|
Digital
117 digital files (5.93 GB)
|
|
|
